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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Who You Talkin' To?

The word today is
Pray. I’ve been thinking a lot about
prayer. Apparently so have a lot of
other people. I say that because my pastor
preached about it recently, there’s a movie about it (War Room) and for some reason
prayer is exactly what I’ve been struggling with. That might intimidate some people. It sometimes intimidates me. But praying has been on my mind a lot lately,
especially with the movie being released.
Maybe you wonder why it’s been prevalent in my mind. I don’t wonder. I already know.

Prayer is our direct line
to the Lord, to God. Prayer is our
lifeline, it’s our strategy for spiritual warfare, it’s our very life. And if you think we don’t have spiritual
warfare, then you’re not where God wants you to be and the devil isn’t
concerned about you. That’s a scary
place to be. Because if you truly belong
to the Lord, if you love Him, serve Him, and walk according to your calling, then
you’re sure to be under spiritual warfare and need to be in prayer.

Jesus said this about
prayer;

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and
when you have shut your door, pray to your Father whois in the secretplace, and your Father who
sees in secret will reward you openly.”~Matthew
6:6, NKJV

To pray simply means to
have a conversation with our Heavenly Father.
To talk to God. And with that,
many people tense up feel anxious, and some even become fearful. Talk to God. The
God! The Maker of the Universe, the
earth, sky, trees, waters, birds, fish, animals, and yes even us. Talk to Him? Yes!

But how?

For centuries people have
wondered the same thing. How do we
actually talk to God? What is
prayer? How do we do it? Even Jesus’ Disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach
us to pray” (Luke 11:1-4). They had
watched Him go off alone to talk to His Father.
They knew He often got up way before dawn and went to pray. Yet, when it
came to them praying, they didn’t know how?

How do we
access God?

Simply put, we access God
by opening our hearts, our minds, and our mouths and TALK. How do you talk to
your best friend? It’s the same with
God. Just do it. There are so many self-help books out there
on prayer today. There are so many
acronyms for teaching us the “proper” way to pray. They’re all very helpful, too. But if they cause you anxiety, confusion, and
prevent you from praying, then my suggestion is to just go to God, humbly,
honestly, and reverently (respectfully) and just talk to Him. That’s all He wants.

God just wants to have a
relationship with you. He wants your
attention. He wants to give you His
attention. He is already listening for
you, waiting for you. He will bend down
and give his ear to listen to you.
Why? Because He loves you. He is crazy about you. I mean, He made you so why wouldn’t He be
nuts over you? Really!

Talk to
God like you do your best friend.

Yes, I had heard that over
and over again for years and years. Even
after God healed me, I prayed to Him, but I still struggled with how to start
and how to end. I thought that by saying
“Amen” it meant my prayer was over and the conversation was ended. But I was wrong. Amen simply means, “So be it.” By saying “in Jesus’ name” simply means that
we are agreeing with Him, we are praying as He instructed in His Word that we
should ask anything in His name. It’s
not hard to do.

“If you
ask anything in My name, I will do it.” ~John 14:14 (NKJV)

When we talk to God, it’s okay
to tell Him how you feel. He wants to
know. He already knows, but He wants you
to tell Him anyway. By doing that, you
are confessing to Him, you’re trusting Him.
You’re getting things off your chest.
You are “casting all your cares upon Him” (1 Peter 5:7).

In turn, God wants you to
listen to Him. Wait patiently for Him to
talk to you. I’ve stood on my porch
stoop before, waiting… and waiting… and waiting… thinking He’s never going to
say anything. And when He does, how will
I know it’s Him? Maybe you’re there,
too. Maybe you wonder how you’ll
know. This is what happened to me; as I
stood there one day, I decided in my heart that I wasn’t leaving the stoop
until He answered me. I decided that I
wanted my joy back and I wasn’t leaving until I had it. So I closed my eyes and just listened.

As I stood there listening
something happened. I began to calm
down. I began to enjoy the sounds around
me. And then, ever so subtly, so
quietly, I felt the joy wash over me in a soft caress and I knew. I KNEW it was Him! How long had I stood there? I don’t know.
I also don’t care. Because God, the
Creator, Author, and Finisher of not only my faith, but of time was in charge
and I was more than happy to let Him be.

“I waited
patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.” ~Psalm 40:1 (NKJV)

Prayer. It’s simple.
It’s assertive. It’s bold. It’s so much more than we make it, yet so
much easier than we allow it to be.
Jesus said if we pray in secret, He will reward us openly. This is so very true! It’s amazing and it’s wonderful.

In the movie War Room,
Miss Clara taught her protégé Elizabeth how to get specific when she prays in
her secret war room. It’s not
difficult. Just write down your specific
requests, write down Scriptures, and then PRAY.
But also, don’t forget to write down when God answers your prayers,
because He promises that He will.

About Me

Shelley Wilburn lives in Southern Illinois on a small piece of land she and her husband refer to as their Rinky Dink Farm. She is the author of the Walking Healed books, several articles, blog posts and book reviews. She has guest blogged for other blogs, co-authored devotionals, and spoken at various women’s gatherings.
Shelley has a unique healing testimony and finds great pleasure in helping to encourage, educate and inspire others to find hope, health and healing through her Walking Healed ministry.
Shelley is married to her high school sweetheart, D.A. They have three grown, married children, children-in-law, five grandsons and one granddaughter. They love raising chickens, having fun and taking impromptu trips to the mountains and secret getaways.
You can follow Shelley on her blog and social media pages; Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. You can also get firsthand updates on her books and new releases by signing up for her newsletter and following her on her Amazon Author page.